Kellsi Kloss walk-off completes LSU comeback
STARKVILLE, Miss.--No. 7 seed LSU got their bats working when it counted most against No. 10 seed Texas A&M. The Tigers were down 4-2 in the 7th inning when they put together a four-hit, three-run rally that was capped off with a Kellsi Kloss walk-off single.
"My teammates made it really easy for me," said Kloss. "They put me in a really good spot. My job is easy there. All I had to do was get a deep fly ball or hit a ball hard like that and that's what happened."
This is LSU's fourth win when trailing after six innings this season. The Tigers have won 13 of the last 14 games.
"They're so amazing," said LSU head coach Beth Torina. "They fight to the end, we all fight to the end and that's just been our motto all year long. You know we've been through a lot of adversity but just fighting to the end and knowing that as long as we have outs we have a chance so my team is just so awesome."
The Tigers started the game with runs in each of the first two innings but struggled to score from the third to the sixth. Trinity Harrington's (7-8) strong pitching held the Tigers to two hits and no runs through that four-inning stretch. Harrington threw 114 pitches, giving up five runs on nine hits over six innings.
Harrington looked poised to finish strong, getting three consecutive batters to ground out in the sixth inning. However, she struggled in the seventh, giving up three singles and one run to the first three batters of the inning before Samantha Show took to the circle.
An Emily Griggs' sacrifice bunt advanced runners to second and third followed by Show intentionally walking Bianka Bell to first. Aggies' head coach Jo Evans put Harrington back in the circle to close. On her first pitch back a passed ball deflected off the top of Aggies' catcher Ashley Walters' glove, bringing Bailey Landry home, tying the game 4-4. Sandra Simmons represented the winning run at third base.
Harrington loaded the bases again, intentionally walking Sahvanna Jaquish. Next up was Kloss, who took Harrington's third pitch and singled to third base for the walk-off RBI.
LSU pitcher Carley Hoover (16-7) came off the bench throwing 77 pitches, giving up only three hits and one run over 4.1 innings.
UP NEXT: No. 7 seed LSU faces No. 2 seed Kentucky tomorrow at 2:30 pm ET / 1:30 pm CT on SEC Network. Kentucky swept LSU in a three-game series in which the Tigers were held scoreless earlier this year.